It was not immediately clear why net profit decreased in the first half of this year.

KCell, controlled by Swedish-based TeliaSonera, said its earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisaion (EBITDA), excluding non-recurring items, rose 1.5 percent in the first half of 2013 to 42.9 billion tenge.

The company, which raised $525 million when it went public on the London Stock Exchange in December, raised its subscriber base to 14.1 million in January-June, Agan said.

Kazakhstan, which occupies a territory the size of Western Europe but is populated by just 17 million, is Central Asia’s largest economy and the second-largest post-Soviet oil producer after Russia.